Rare Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R sells for almost $AU1 million, sets new record

An extremely rare Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R with zero kilometres on its odometer has set what is believed to be a record for the Japanese cult classic car, selling for 5.1 million Hong Kong dollars – equivalent to $972,000 in Australian currency.

The Skyline GT-R was listed by Contempo Concept in Hong Kong for $HK5.1 million ($AU972,000), and the company claims in a post on Instagram it had sold the example of Nissan’s flagship performance car for its asking price.

Nissan Skyline GT-R specialist website GT-R Registry claims the previous highest sale price for an R34-generation GT-R was 55 million Japanese Yen ($AU588,000), set in 2020.

While CarBuzz reported in August a US collector had paid $US1,985,000 ($AU2,959,000) for a Nissan Skyline GT-R earlier this year, the publication later claimed the price was misreported, with the owner refusing to elaborate on how much they paid for the cult classic.

Launched in 1999, the R34-generation GT-R was the final iteration of Nissan’s iconic performance model to wear the Skyline nameplate, as its R35 successor was simply named the GT-R.

When it was new, the Nissan Skyline GT-R cost nearly 5 million Japanese Yen in its home country – equivalent to about $AU56,085 now – however the popularity of the R34 has caused prices to skyrocket in recent years.

If this Nissan Skyline GT-R sold by Contempo Concept has never been registered in Hong Kong, its new owner will have to pay an additional $HK6.5 million ($AU1.24 million) due to the region’s extreme taxes on first registrations – bringing the combined cost up to $HK11.6 million ($AU2.21 million).

According to Contempo Concept’s listing, this particular Nissan Skyline GT-R was built in 1999, although it was recently modified by the Japanese car-maker’s in-house performance division, Nismo.

Nismo offers owners of R32, R33, R34 and R35-generation GT-Rs the ability to upgrade their cars to ‘Clubman Race Spec’ – replacing mechanical components such as suspension, brakes and transmissions with higher-performance, more modern parts.

GT-R Registry reports the estimated cost of these upgrades was approximately 14.6 million Japanese Yen ($AU156,000) in 2019.

The listing shows this Nissan Skyline GT-R was also fitted with Nismo’s ‘R3’ engine upgrades, which cost an additional 5.5 million Japanese Yen ($AU58,600).

Nismo’s R3 upgrades takes the Skyline GT-R’s standard 206kW/368Nm 2.6-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine and adds bigger turbochargers, a stronger engine block, upgraded camshafts and a new engine tune, increasing its outputs to 331kW/470Nm.

This Nissan Skyline GT-R was also painted in the iconic, much sought-after ‘Midnight Purple II’ colour. GT-R Registry claims only 199 of the 11,578 R34 Skyline GT-Rs built between 1999 and 2002 were painted in Midnight Purple II.

Midnight Purple returned as an optional colour on the $256,700 Nissan GT-R (R35) T-Spec edition last year, heralding the end of the GT-R’s run in Australian showrooms.

Contempo Concept claims it has three more Nissan Skyline GT-Rs in stock, all of which are currently being upgraded to Nismo's Clubsport Race Spec.